STEVEN Broomhead gives his view on the current transport situation in Warrington and the north

Recently significant attention has been given to the government’s decision as to the HS2 project, together with the need to invest in the North’s out-dated old railway infrastructure.

This tough decision has now been made although no trains will run until 2031.  For us, we await further clarification on the details of the “High Speed North”.   So Boris has got his £100 billion train set similar to Tony Blair’s £700m “Dome”.

This focus on rail has disguised a major announcement to review the policy of building 300 miles more ‘smart motorways’ of which we have a number in our area (M6, M62, M56).

Built at considerable expense, (£15m per mile), they promised us by using technology and the latest traffic management techniques more reliability, greater safety, smoother traffic flows and a more carbon neutral outcomes. It would seem that none of these have actually been delivered as there is nothing remotely clever about ‘smart motorways’. It appears that they do not offer a superior driving experience but were a way of expanding the motorway network on the cheap.

Warrington Guardian:

Rather than widening the motorways the decision was taken to convert the hard shoulder to a running lane with emergency laybys up to 1.5 miles apart.  Cameras and other technologies were to be used to spot problems, but unfortunately the software wasn’t up to the job and it takes CCTV operators on average seventeen minutes to stop and take action by switching on warning notices.  

I wonder if anybody will put up their hand to admit their errors on what was a dumb infrastructure decision.  After all we have also had to put up with the considerable disruption.

Of course the best way to deal with congestion is for a ‘modal switch’ from car to public transport. Here there is a big push on to encourage people to do so but behavioural resistance is always strong and incentives may be needed. There’s only 15 years to go before we may not be able to buy a petrol or diesel vehicle.

There are encouraging discussions with government regarding the introduction of electric buses in our town.

Our town’s bus network would make a perfect pilot for such a scheme, together with the fact that most of Warrington has a flat terrain.

Warrington Guardian: A new Warrington's Own Buses bus

Trams, the last of which ran in 1935 could also play a part in what hopefully this decade will be a public transport revolution. The performance of our local bus company, ‘Warrington’s Own Buses’, is really encouraging and shows it is ready and able to embrace changes, has had a turn around in profitability, in growing and its reputation is gradually improving.

It would benefit even more if car usage was reduced and congestion was much improved. These issues are now being actively addressed.

Britain is sometimes stuck in the slow lane when it comes to transport investment and big transport projects with delays, cost increases and confusion the common denominators. We now have a clear local transport strategy, a willingness to deliver in a sustainable and green manner and a commitment to seek the capital funding to achieve all of this.

We are at the start of a greener, cleaner transport decade.